In 1984, the NBA saw one of the best draft classes of all time. This class featured Hakeem Olajuwon, John Stockton, Charles Barkley, and of course, Michael Jordan.
The first pick went to the Houston Rockets, who selected Olajuwon. The Portland Trailblazers were next. They took Sam Bowie from Kentucky for the second pick, passing up on Jordan, who was subsequently taken by the Chicago Bulls, where he would win six NBA titles, be crowned MVP five times, and be selected to 14 All-Star teams.
Bowie on the other hand, had his career derailed by injuries, being forced to sit out the 1987-88 season due to a leg ailment. Bowie lasted 10 seasons in the NBA, which is respectable, but pales in comparison to the accomplishments of Jordan.
But what if Portland hadn’t passed on Jordan? What if they had selected MJ?
Obviously, many things would change. Jordan would still have turned out to be a Hall of Famer, but not with the Bulls. Jordan was pretty much the sole reason the Bulls were even contenders before Scottie Pippen arrived. He broke his leg during the 1985-86 season, which limited him to just 17 games. As such, the Bulls finished well below the .500 mark, but somehow managed to sneak into the playoffs, only to be swept by the Celtics.
Without Jordan, the Bulls would likely have gotten nowhere, at least until Pippen arrived. The Trailblazers on the other hand, would’ve likely been the ones to experience the glory that the Bulls did in real life.
We can assume Jordan’s leg injury in the 85-86 season would’ve still occurred. But Portland would have been much deeper than Chicago and in general. They would’ve had somebody else to lean on in his absence; Clyde Drexler.
And when Jordan ultimately came back, they would have two of the best scorers of all time playing together. Imagine a combination of Drexler and MJ. Together, they would’ve been unstoppable. Perhaps they could’ve even challenged the showtime Lakers for Western Conference supremacy. We could’ve seen some Western Conference battles between Jordan and Magic Johnson in his prime.
Fast forward to the 1992 NBA finals, and Portland surely would’ve been there with the formidable one-two punch of Jordan and Drexler. We can assume Portland would’ve taken the title that year. As for the Bulls, they probably wouldn’t have even been there, even with Pippen on their side. While the Bulls remained competitive after Jordan’s first retirement and even made a deep run in the Eastern Conference playoffs in 1994, without Jordan, they were overmatched. It wasn’t until he returned that they regained their position as the best team in the NBA.
Speaking of Jordan’s first retirement, that came due to the death of his father. We can assume that that event would not change, unfortunately. We know Portland had traded Drexler to Houston during the 1994-95 season. This could’ve still happened, and there’s no guarantee Jordan would have come back to Portland when he came out of retirement for the first time. So in that case, things could have turned out similarly for Portland, as they still remained competitive for a time.
One interesting little tid-bit about Jordan’s first retirement is that during his hiatus, he attempted baseball. This probably wouldn’t have happened in our alternate timeline. You see, Jerry Reinsdorf, the Bulls owner at the time, also owned the Chicago White Sox, so Jordan already had a foot in the door so to speak.
As we mentioned, there’s no guarantee Jordan would have come back to Portland when he ended his initial hiatus, but assuming he had a similar run of success there to the run he had with the Bulls in real life, it’s very likely he would’ve ended up back in Portland, and maybe even led them to some more titles.
And even after Jordan’s second retirement, the Blazers would’ve probably stayed relevant, as they managed to bring in Jordan’s ex-teammate Pippen to go along with Detlef Schrempf and Steve Smith. I imagine this would still happen in real life, and ultimately lead Portland to where they are now. The big difference would be that the Bulls would not have won all those titles, and Jordan would be remembered for being a star in Portland.
Obviously, so much would change. We wouldn’t have that combination of Jordan and Pippen. Instead, it would be Jordan and Drexler. Ultimately, Portland would have been in a much better position had they not passed on Jordan, and that very moment will always have us wondering “what if?”
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